Ashland startup hopes to expand sales of a unique product that blooms from a dry pellet to a cleansing wipe infused with essential oils
By Jim Flint for Ashland.news
It’s a dry pellet about the size of a stack of four nickels. Add a squirt of water and — voila — it transforms into an 8-by-11-inch durable personal cleansing towelette made of super-soft, biodegradable bamboo infused with essential oils.
The innovative product is the brainchild of Cassandra Davis — and it recently earned her a $100,000 investment from Oregon Angel Food (OregonAF) Investors to help scale her growing business, Functional Botanicals, an Ashland startup with a half-dozen employees.
Davis accepted the award June 2 at the Mission Theater in Portland, where five finalists, including four craft food and beverage companies, pitched to a room full of investors, food industry professionals and the public.
OregonAF is part of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network.
“It is the first grant awarded to a business outside of Portland and in the CPG (consumer packaged goods) space,” said OEN President and Executive Director Cara Turano. She said Davis’ product “solves a big sustainability challenge for the hospitality industry and elevates guests’ personal hygiene experience.”
As OEN’s membership has expanded, the food and beverage program has grown to include consumer packaged goods businesses looking to scale nationally with venture capital as a growth vehicle.
A moment of disbelief
On the night of the award announcement, Davis felt a mix of emotions.
“I was excited and a little bit in disbelief,” she said. ”Overall, I felt gratitude and joy for being recognized.”
An idea hatched in 2012 and launched in 2020, Functional Botanicals began in the outdoor market, selling sanitizing wipes to campers and hikers. Today, the business has tapped into luxury hotels’ growing interest in sustainable clean beauty products. It has acquired an international contract with Four Seasons Hotels as the chain’s exclusive makeup remover, Davis said.
Davis moved to Ashland 22 years ago, looking for a good community in which to raise her son, Arlo, who is now 23. After he graduated from high school, she felt she could focus more time on the business — her new “baby.”
Davis said it was essential to build a business that reflected her core values. She adopted a vegan lifestyle at 15 — an unconventional choice that drew attention in her Midwestern hometown. Today, she’s proud to make an impact in a different way: introducing an organic, compostable product into everyday spaces.
She also has a passion for adventure and travel — and imagined that fellow explorers would appreciate the uniqueness of the wipes.
“I could see the value of being able to have a little spa moment anytime, anywhere,” she said.
Scaling ahead
Startups often face their share of highs and lows, but the $100,000 investment will bring added stability and fuel key growth initiatives. Benefactors receive a small stake in the company in exchange for their investment.
“The additional cash will help us plot a course with a certain amount of runway,” Davis said. “Ultimately, it will allow us to continue to raise capital, an important step in our process of scaling the business.”
Now her goal is to expand both the retail side of the business and the base of commercial and institutional clients — markets that have responded not only to the products’ upscale appeal but also to the cost savings they offer.
“We are helping hotels deliver on their sustainability goals,” she said. “Our product helps them save water, reduce energy and resources, and reduce linen spoilage. And since both our product and its packaging are completely compostable, it helps reduce overall waste.”
Moreover, she said, by offering a plastic-free solution, Functional Botanicals helps its customers reduce their carbon footprint.
“We are helping raise the bar for how sustainable products look, feel and perform,” she said. “We not only are rebranding what sustainability can be but also making it more appealing, with a sense of luxury.”
Direct push
Davis plans to focus on growing the business’ direct-to-consumer platform and eventually market the company on social media.
Living in Ashland helped shape her entrepreneurial journey. Its natural beauty inspired her and connected her to nature.
“It’s wonderful to be in a community that shares that same love,” she said.
The company offers its wipes in a variety of towelette sizes and packaging options, with a range of infusions — including fragrance-free and disinfecting formulas. A recent addition to the lineup is a hyaluronic acid moisturizing wipe, created to rejuvenate, nourish and deeply hydrate the skin.
What’s on the horizon for Functional Botanicals?
“I see us putting more time and effort into getting our brand in front of more people,” she said.
Even though the company currently sells nationally and internationally, it is focused on niche markets.
“Our brand is fairly unknown,” she said. “The task ahead of us is expanding our market and tapping into the digital retail market.”
With several new products in development, Davis said Functional Botanicals is just getting started. She said the experience of competing for the OregonAF grant — and the insights gained from the OEN network of entrepreneurs and investors — have given her a clear roadmap for what’s next. Stay tuned.
For more information about the company and its products, visit functionalbotanicals.com.
